Brush With Fame

One of my favorite ice-breakers to play when I used to work with college students was a game I called "Brush with Fame." This was a simple game where you would go around the room to introduce yourself and then share a story about some type of celebrity interaction or sighting. I usually shared two stories. The first was Mr. McFeely of Mr. Rogers Neighborhood visiting my kindergarten class. (I also met him in DC about 30 years later.)

The second story occurred at the hotel lobby (I don't remember the name) next to Pittsburgh's Civic Arena during the 1990 NHL All-Star weekend. Wayne Gretzky signed autographs for at least an hour and was very cool about it. Meanwhile, Mario Lemieux ran through the lobby as quickly as possible and signed only a handful of autographs. I'm not at all bitter all these years later that my brother was one of the handful of people that got an autograph. Plus, I still had my Wise potato chips Lemieux poster in my room for many years. Meanwhile, I also brought some hockey cards and may have asked Kirk Muller of the New Jersey Devils to sign his card. Unfortunately, I think I handed him a John MacLean card and he replied, "That's not me."

So why do I bring this up? When I lived in San Diego in the late 90s, I visited Los Angeles several times. I assumed that people see famous folks in LA all the time, but apparently, that wasn't the case. I did have one celebrity sighting though. While waiting for (probably well over an hour for) a table at the extremely popular and trendy restaurant called The Cheesecake Factory, I recognized someone picking up food to go. I tried to overhear the conversation between this guy and the restaurant staff, but I didn't get any significant information. The guy: Teddy from the NBC Saturday morning teen TV show Hang Time.

You may know the character Teddy better by his real name, Anthony Anderson. Anderson received an Emmy nomination for Lead Actor in a Comedy for his role on Black-ish. Whether or not he wins an Emmy this weekend, I can now include Anderson the next time I play Brush With Fame. And Carson Daly.

Pittsburgh Festival In Washington

Perhaps it's because Celebrate Fairfax is only days away, but I'm getting into the festival mood. I also realize that it's unlikely I'll be able to visit Pittsburgh this summer (this year?) and that makes me a little sad. Therefore, why not put the two together. That's right. I want to create a Pittsburgh festival in the Washington, DC area.

I could worry about the details like location (Dulles Expo Center?), insurance, security, etc., but today, I'm going to be an ideas man. There are thousands of Pittsburgh transplants that live in the Washington area (see the 2008 Steelers game at FedEx Field and the Post-Gazette series detailing Pittsburghers that moved away) and even more if you expand this to Baltimore. Why not celebrate our Pittsburgh-ness and expose the city to the greater Washington DC area?

The first step would be to partner with Visit Pittsburgh, the official tourism office for Pittsburgh. They are the experts on all the great things to do and see in Pittsburgh.

Here is what else this festival should have (some of this is unrealistic but others could definitely work):

- Food: You can't have a Pittsburgh festival without Pittsburgh food. Primanti's sandwiches, Quaker Steak & Lube wings, hot dogs from The O, Potato Patch fries, Peppi's Roethlisburger, pierogies, Eat 'N Park Smiley Cookies, anything from the Oakmont Bakery, Prantl's Burnt Almond Torte, Vincent's pizza, Sarris Candies, Dave & Andy's ice cream and lots of Heinz condiments. Yes, there will be Iron City beer too. I'm getting hungry!

- Some type of presence from current or former Steelers, Pirates, and Penguins. Heck, we can have some Riverhounds or Maulers too. Yes, I'll even allow a visit from Steely McBeam.



- We need to have some type of Kennywood exhibit. Maybe they can build The Racer or Thunderbolt for this festival.

- Music: Let's get Wiz Khalifa, Rusted Root, The Clarks and Mac Miller, who recently wrote "I am Pittsburgh" on Twitter.

- Admissions officers from Pitt, Duquesne, CMU, Robert Morris, Chatham, Point Park, and Carlow to help recruit high school students.

- Bring a dinosaur from Pittsburgh's Carnegie Museum. With the dinosaur hall at Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History closed until 2019, folks in DC will want to see a real dinosaur skeleton.

- An exhibit from the Andy Warhol Museum.

- A Mister Rogers and/or Daniel Tiger exhibit. Mr. McFeely could make the trip to DC again.

- Birds from the National Aviary.

- Have a giant poster showing the view of Mt. Washington where people can take a picture standing in front of it.

- Booths from some of Pittsburgh's biggest employers such as UPMC, Giant Eagle, Highmark, US Steel, and PNC Financial Services to recruit potential employees.

What else would you want to see at a Pittsburgh festival? Do you think this could happen?

Found In My Basement: Mr. McFeely

While I realize that there are people out there that make fun of Mister Rogers and feel that he is the epitome of "uncoolness," I am not one of those people. Mister Rogers is a legendary Pittsburgher and has such great messages. I think I appreciate him even more now that I'm a parent.

One of the characters on Mister Rogers' Neighborhood is the mailman, Mr. McFeely, who may be best known for his catchphrase, "Speedy Delivery." Mr. McFeely actually visited my kindergarten classroom about 30 years ago. You would think that the picture below is from that visit. Nope. Check out the date.

Yes, I have an autographed Mr. McFeely picture from 2009 when I was already in my 30s. Mr. McFeely was in Washington as part of the screening of My Tale of Two Cities, and I had the opportunity to meet him and talk with him. I also have a picture with Mr. McFeely that appeared during my Facebook 10-year video.

In case you're wondering, I think I already lost this picture. Maybe it will be found in my basement again in another few years.

Click here for more items Found In My Basement!

Big Day

On the slim chance that anyone is reading my blog on Saturday, there are two big events that I need to share. First, today (Saturday, March 20th) marks the first day of spring meaning free Italian Ice at Rita's throughout the country. Visit Rita's website for more information.

Today also marks Won't You Be My Neighbor Day to celebrate Mr. Rogers' Birthday. Make sure to wear a sweater (which you may need after eating a cold Italian Ice).

Major Announcement: Franco Harris and Mr. McFeely Coming to Washington

Pittsburgh is coming Washington! Actually, Pittsburgh is coming to Silver Spring, Maryland. As part of the annual "Won’t You Be My Neighbor? Day" in honor of Mister Rogers’ birthday, there will be a special screening of My Tale of Two Cities on Monday, March 16 at the AFI Silver Theater in Silver Spring. Tickets are $10, but are first-come, first-serve and may sell out. To reserve your seats, e-mail Cait at mytaleoftwocities@gmail.com and specifically mention the DC screening. Plus, there will be a special appearances by Steelers’ Hall of Fame running back Franco Harris, Mr. McFeely of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood and Sean of Sean’s Ramblings. (Shockingly, the organizers are not promoting the fact that I will be in attendance.)

Here’s a description of the movie from its website:

"My Tale of Two Cities" is a funny and heartfelt "comeback" story about coming home and the city of Pittsburgh, the real-life "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood", coming back to once again become "The City of Champions." The film, which stars some of the city's favorite neighbors including Franco Harris, Teresa Heinz Kerry, former treasury secretary Paul O' Neill, and many others, has struck a chord at a time when people and cities across this country are thinking about how to reinvent themselves for a new age and when it seems, now more than ever, we need each neighbor to make a difference.



I hope to see you there!

P.S. I've been waiting for an official e-mail that the event is on, but I can wait no longer! If I'm a bit premature in posting this, then I apologize.


Photo from the My Tale of Two Cities website.